Athletic playing ball



Sept. 1 5 1942. c. A. WEBB ATHLETIC PLAYING BALL Filed April 30, 1940grwam llom UharZesu7.V @&&,

Patented Sept. 15, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ATHLETIC PLAYINGCharles A. Webb, Lebanon, Pa., assignor to C. B. Webb Company, Lebanon,Pa., a copartnership composed of C. B. Webb and Grace 1. Webb.

Application April 30, 1940, Serial No. 332,601

17 Claims.

The present invention relates to rubber athletic playing balls, such asfoot balls, soccer balls, basket balls and volley balls, and the like,and the invention aims generally to improve such articles. Moreparticularly, the invention aims to improve rubber playing balls of thetype shown and discribed in my prior Patent No. 2,172,425, grantedSeptember 12, 1939.

Athletic balls of the type referred to above usually comprise a leathercover and an indefiatable rubber bladder therefor, and such balls havebecome standard balls in professional, varsity and scholastic athletics.Such balls are relatively expensive, particularly for elementary schoolgames and practice work, and ther is a decided demand for an inexpensiverubber practice ball, simulating substantially the leather covered ballinsize, weight, feel, and bounce.

Rubber athletic balls of the type shown in my prior patent abovereferred to, as well as other inflated rubber athletic balls of singlewall thickness, possess the objectionable characteristic that thecompound is stretchable and will' not be of desired shape, unlessinflated precisely to a predetermined pressure or size. Accordingly,

with such prior athletic balls it was necessary to inflate the balls toa precise predetermined pressure, usually 6 lbs. or to a predeterminedcircumference, which was difficult if not impossible to maintain underall conditions. Ifsuch prior balls were over-inflated they would stretchout of shape.

Heretofore, attempts to overcome the above stated objections have beendirectedtoattempts to wind the rubber compound shell with cord or twineto reduce the resilience and stretchability of the ball. Th wrappedshell was then dipped in rubber and vulcanized. Theseballs, whilepartially overcoming the objection of stretchability, are expensive ofmanufacture, due to the expense of wrapping, and later, dipping,vulcanizing and coloring.

A principal object of my'invention is the provision of an inflatedrubber lplaying ball of the type described, of single wall thickness ofuniform structure and composition "throughout,-

which will be non-stretchable even der substantial over-inflation, asfrom 10 toil pounds.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a new rubbercontaining vulcanizable compound for the manufacture 'of said balls,which will be non-stretchable when over-inflated;

A still further object of the invention is the ing pigmentedvulcanizable compound that can be molded and vulcanized while possessingthe color and appearance of tanned pigskin or other desirable colorwithout requiring extra outer coatings of color. p,

A further object of the inveption is to provide a rubber playing ball.possessing the features above referred to and which will be comparableto a standard leather covered athletic ball in appearance, feel,resilience, stifiness and weight.

The invention is better understood from a consideration of the followingdescription thereof, reference being had to the drawing illustrating oneform of ball according to' the invention in elevation, portions beingbroken away better to show the construction.

According to the invention, the ball I 0 may be of any desired shape andsize to correspond to a standard leather covered athletic ball, as forexample, a foot ball, soccer ball, volley ball or basket ball, thelatter being selected as an illustrative embodiment. The balladvantageously is formed of pre-shaped halves cemented together along amedian line, and thereafter finished in a mold as is usual. Preferably,the ball is inflated through a self-closing valve ll of suitable typeand construction so that it may be inflated with air to a properpressure, this being preferable to the so-called gas filled ballswherein the pressure cannot be accurately regu- I lated. Preferably, thesurfaces of the finishing molds are engraved to produce irregulardimpled j designs of convex form on the surface of the In order that theinflated balls may possess a resilience and stiffness and weightsubstantially corresponding to the resilience of a standard leathercovered similar playing ball, and at the same time possess thecharacteristic of nonstretchability even when over-inflated. Ipreferably form the balls of a vulcanizable compound containing rubber,a non-stretchable stiffening ingredient capable of reducing the weightof the compound, for example leather dust, and a thermo-plasticizer,such as glue and Montan wax capable of softening the compound, whenheated, so that a leather design may be embossed in the provision of anew and improved rubber containsurface of the ball.

Preferably the compound may include the fol lowing:

, Pounds Rubber 100 stiffening ingredient (leather flour) 30-75Thermo-plasticizer 15-40 Zinc oxid 3-15 Titanium dioxide 5-30 y .05-2Antioxldent 3 Vulcanizing agents '7. 25

The ingredients may be varied within substantial limits, the followingexamples being two in- I stances of compounds which have produced sat-The compound is preferably one in which the rubber content may be purerubber; or partly pure and partly reclaimed. To this a substantialamount of the non-stretchable stifiening ingredient, as leather flour,is added to stiffen and lighten the rubber and increase the tensilestrength of the compound.

The thermoplastic ingredients are included to render the compound softunder application of heat so that the surface of the ball may be readilymolded and ornamented under internal pressure. Upon cooling, thesethermo-plastic ingredients act also to stiffen to compound.

The zinc oxide, titanium dioxide and dyes are included in the compoundto impart to .the compound a desired color which may vary from a tan,similar to tanned pigskin, to a white, as for example, for volley balls.

The inclusion of the antioxidants, which may be Neozone D, Heliozone orFlectol White, ren-' ders the compound resistant to sun checking anddeterioration from heat and oxidation.

The ingredients are thoroughly mixed together, as in a mill, to providea uniformly homogeneous compound. This compound has a sufiiciently largerubber content to enable it to flow in heated molds so thatsemi-spherical or semi-ellipsoidal halves may be formed in suitablemolds when subjected to heat and pressure. During the molding, thecompound is substantially completely cured. The halves may then becemented together and placed in a finishing heated mold where they aresubjected to internal air pressure admitted through the valves l I.During this op-- eration, the heat of the finishing molds softens thethermoplastic ingredients, permitting the compound to take theornamentation of the finishingmolds to produce the imitation seams,lacing or dimpled appearance resembling tanned pigskin.

An athletic playing ball made in accordance with my invention possessesthe characteristics of appearance, feel, resilience and weightcorresponding to a standard leather covered athletic ball. In addition,it possesses the characteristic of being non-stretchable, even whenover-inflated, while still being constructed entirely of a single wallthickness of homogeneous vulcanizable compound. The inclusion of thelarge proportion of light colored ingredients, with the desired dye,enables me to produce a non-fading pigmented ball of desired color, thuseliminating the necessity of an outer coat of paint, or rubber veneerwhich not only is expensive but impairs the realistic feel of thedimpled surface of the ball,

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that proportions andamounts of ingredients may be varied considerably to obtain the desiredcharacteristics of the playing ball,.and that the invention is highlyuseful and desirable in the manufacture of inflated playing balls otherthan those simulating leather covered bladder-inflated athletic balls.Accordingly, the invention is not to be restricted to the detailsillustrated and described, and the scope of the invention is more fullydefined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An inflated playing ball of the type described, said ball being ofsingle wall thickness formed of a vulcanized homogeneous compoundcontaining rubber, leather flour and a thermoplastic ingredient.

2. An inflated playing ball of the type de-- scribed, said ball being ofsingle wall thickness formed of a vulcanized homogeneous compoundcontaining 30 to parts of leather flour to parts by weight of rubber.

3. An inflated playing ball of the type described, said ball being ofsingle wall thickness formed of a vulcanized homogeneous compoundcontaining 30 to 75 parts of leather flour and 15 to 40 parts ofthermoplastic to 100 parts by weight of rubber.

4. An inflated playing ball of the type described formed of a pigmentedvulcanized homogeneous compound of rubber and a non-stretchablestifiening ingredient stable under heat of vulcanization, said compoundbeing air impervious and of uniform color throughout.

5. An inflated playing ball of the type described formed of a pigmentedvulcanized homogeneous compound of rubber, leather flour and a pigment,said compound being air impervious and of uniform color throughout.

6. A sun-proof inflated rubber playing ball of the type described formedof a pigmented vulcanized homogeneous compound containing rubber,leather flour, a pigment and anti-oxident, said compound being airimpervious, non-stretchable and non-fading in color. r

7. An air inflated hollow playing ball of desired appearance and shapecorresponding to a leather covered athletic ball of desired type, saidball being formed of a vulcanized homogeneous compound of rubber and astiffening ingredient capable of rendering the rubber non-stretchable,said ball possessing resiliency, weight, appearance and feel similar tothe corresponding leather covered athletic ball, and being ofpredetermined size under excessive internal inflating pressure.

8. An air inflated hollow playing ball of desired appearance and shapecorresponding'to a leather covered athletic ball of desired type,

said ball being formed a vulcanized homogeneous c mp und-of rubber, athermoplastic ingredient and leather fiour,-said ball possessingresiliency,

in that the compound contains 30 to 75 parts of leather flour, to 40parts of thermoplastic to each 100 parts. of rubber. 10. A ball asdefined in claim dcharacterized in that the compound containsapproximately 60 parts of leather flour and parts of thermoplastic toeach 100 parts by weight of rubber.

11. A ball as defined in claim 8 characterized in that the compoundcontains approximately equal parts of leather flour andthermoplasticizer.

l2."An air inflated hollow playing ball of desired appearance and shapecorresponding to a leather covered athletic ball of desired type, saidball being formed of pigmented vulcanized homogeneous compound ofrubber, a thermoplastic, a

stable stiffening ingredient rendering said compound non-stretchable anda dye, said ball pos- 'sessing resiliency, weight, appearance, feel andcolor similar to the corresponding leather covered athletic ball.

- g 13. An air inflated hollow playing ball of desired appearanceand'shape corresponding to a leather covered athletic ball of desired type,said ball being formed of a pigmented vulcanized homogeneous compound ofrubber, a thermoplastic, leather flour, zinc oxideand .a dye, said ballpossessing resiliency, weight, appearance, feel and color similar to thecorresponding leather covered athletic ball. v

-14. An air inflated hollow playing ball of desired appearance and shapecorresponding to a leather covered athletic ball of desired type,- said'ball being formed of a pigmented vulcanized holeather covered athleticball of desired type, said mogeneous compound of rubber, athermoplastic, leather flour, a dye and an anti-oxidant, said ballpossessing resiliency weight, appearance, feel and color similar tothecorresponding leather covered athletic ball.

15. An air inflated hollow playing ball of desired appearance and shapecorresponding to a leather covered athletic ball, and being ofpredetermined size under excessive internal inflating pressure.

16. An air inflated hollow playing ball of desired appearance and shapecorresponding to a leather covered athletic ball of desired type,

said ball being formed of rubber, approximately 7 100 parts, partsleather flour, thermoplastic 20 parts, zinc oxide 13 parts, titaniumdioxide 5 parts, dye 2 parts, anti-oxidant 3 parts, said ball possessingresiliency, weight, appearance and feel similar to the correspondingleather covered athletic ball, and being of predetermined size underexcessive internal inflating pressure. 17. An air inflated hollowplaying ball of ae, sired appearance and shape corresponding to a ballbeing formed of approximately parts rubber, 38 parts leather flour, 38parts thermoplastic,

5 parts zinc oxide, 25 parts titanium dioxide, .05-

part dye, and 3 parts anti-oxidant, said ball possessingresiliency,-weight,. appearance and feel similar to the correspondingleather covered athletic ball, and being of predetermined sizeunderexcessive internal inflating pressure.

CHARLES A. WEBB.

